Dishwashing eqipment



Feb. 14, 1961 A. E. WlLDE EI'AL DISHWASHING EQUIPMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 11, 1958 Nexander E. W\ lde James H. W'\ \de IN VEN TORS BY M r WV ATTORNEY Feb. 14, 1961 A. E. WILDE El'AL DISHWASHING EQUIPMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 11, 1958 lillllum 28 I I L 54 I \J /Z0 3 SOJ 34- Alexander E. WH'de James H Wnde INVENTORS ATTORNEY United States Patent DISHWASHING EQUIPMENT Alexander E. Wilde and James H. Wilde, Little Silver, N.J., assignors to Faspray Corporation, Red Bank, NJ., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 11, 1958, s... No. 741,342 a '1 Claims. 2 c1. 19s-'-1s1 to and from .dishwashing apparatus .in a continuous operation. However, the dishes are ordinarily carried by rectangular racks and it is found in practice. that such' racks cannot be readily pushed or moved'. around a corner or turned about in reversing their direction of movement to return the racks to a starting point. -As a result, it has been necessary heretofore to provide. an extended elliptical or nearly circular path of movement for the dish racks in orderto prevent jamming or displacement thereof and assure smooth, uninterrupted movement of the racks to and from the dishwasher. The relatively great amount ofspace thus required'foruse of continuous conveying means of the prior art has limited the use thereof since the space. availablefor dishwashing equipment in most kitchens is extremely limited.

' In accordance with the present invention these objections and limitations of the prior constructions are overcome and means are provided which serve, to move the dishracks along substantially parallel portions of a continuous path occupying a very limited space. The

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a detail of the construction shown in Fig. 2.

In that form of the invention chosen for purposes of illustration in the drawings, the dishes are placed in racks 2 which move along the front section or run 4 of a continuous path from the station or counter 6 adjacent the front of the assembly where dirty dishes are placed in the racks, to a turntable or transfer device 8 located at one endof the assembly. The upper surface of the turntable is positioned in substantially the same a plane as the runs 4 and .10 of the path so that as the turntable rotates it serves. to transfer the dish raclcs' smoothly from the front run4 of the continuous path to the rear run 10 thereof. The run 10 of the path preferablyextends substantially parallel to the front run land the dish racks containing the dirty dishes in moving to the right as shown in Fig. 1 along the rear run 10, first pass through a pre-washer 12 and then pass through the. dishwasher itself which is indicated generally at 14. From the dishwasher 14 the racks containing the washed and-clean dishes move to theturntable 16 at the right 'handend of the assembly as shown in Fig. 1 where the construction preferably embodies means such as a turn table which serve to positively engage and turn or transfer the dish racks from one parallel portion of the path to the other in a smooth, continuous movement which allows the racks to be pushed along the path without the use of any power driven means other than thetransfer devices themselves. I

Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to facilitate the movement and handling of dish racks employed in dishwashing equipment.

A further object of the invention is to provide dishwashing equipment with a channel occupying very limited space and along which dish holding racks may be'moved continuously to and from a dishwasher.

A specific object of the invention is to provide dishwashing equipment with two substantially parallel paths along which dish racks may be moved together with means for positively transferring the racks from one of said paths to the other.

A general object of the invention is to reduce the cost of dishwashing equipment and to increase the etliciency thereof while limiting the space occupied thereby to a minimum.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will appear from the following description thereof wherein reference is made to the figures of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: Fig. l is a plan view of a typical form of dishwashing equipment embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the turntable and related elements of the assembly; and

dishes may be removedfrom the racks and placed on the counter 18 by an operatorstationed at that point.

The turntable 16-serves to-transfer the empty dish racks from the rear run 10 of the continuous path to the front run 4 thereof so that empty racks are continuouslysupplied to an operator stationed adjacent the counterl6 to be refilled with dirty dishes. The racks are pushed one after another. along the parallel front and rear runs 4 and 10 of the assembly by the racks being positively moved and transferred from one run to the other by the turntables 8 and 16. The only power required to operate the assembly and to move the racks continuously along the path therefor is that required for rotating the turntables 8 and 16. The turntables may be driven separately and as shown; eachof the turntables is mounted on a shaft 20 and is driven by a motor 22 through speed reducing means 24. The turntables 8 and 16 are preferably identical in construction and as shown in Fig. 2, each is provided with a plurality of holes 26 therein arranged concentric with the axis of rotation of the table. Pins 28 are movable through the holes 26 into and out of engagement with the racks 2 to move the racks positively with the turntable as it rotates. In order to move the pins 28 upward through the openings 26 in the proper timed relation to engage each rack moving onto the turntable; the pins are each mounted upon an arm 30 pivotally mounted on a bracket 32 secured to the lower surface of the-turntableS. Each arm 30 is provided with a roller 34 at its free ends which is positioned to engage and move along a track 36 located beneath the turntable. 'The track 36 is arcuate in shape and concentric withthe shaft 20 but is not continuous. Thus the end 38 'of the track 36 which is positioned adjacent the left hand. end of the'rear run 10 is turned downwardly. There is no trackat the inner side of the turntable between the ends 38 and 40. The track 36 beneath the turntable 16 is similarly constructed. 5 The turntable 8 on rotating carries the roller's 34 there.- with so that upon engagement of a roller withthe downwardly turned end 38 of the track 36, the roller ridesup the end of the track, lifting the arm 30, and causing the pin 28 carried therebyto project upward through the opening 26 in the turntable 8. ,The, pin is thus raised to a position to engage the rack 2 which is being pushed onto the turntable. As the turntable continues to rotate, the pin 28 serves to move the rack positively withthe 0 turntable, turning the rack about and transferring it from 'thefront run 4 to the rear run 10. When the rack latented Feb. 14,1961.

bygravity ofi the inclined end 40 of the track 36 or may succeeding racks being transferred by 'the turntable .8

from the front nm to the rearrun 10.

After passing through the 'washer 14, the racks are pushed onto the "turntable 16 which, as previously indicated,'is'c0nstructed in the same manner as the turntable 8 The racks containing clean dishes thus are'positively movedpast the counter. .18 where an "operator removes the clean dishes from the racks 'and transfers them to the counter. The dish racks which havethus been emptied are further carried andtransferredjby the turntable 16 from the rear run 10 back to the front run 4 of the continuous 'path. In this way racks are pushed along the front run 4 and are continuously supplied to the operator adjacent the counter 6 to be refilledwith dirty. dishes. The filled racks then move on past the counter 6'and 'onto the turntable 8 as previously described.

The construction thus provided occupies but very limited space since the front and rear runs 4 and 100i the path along which the racks are moved can be located but the remaining racks will still be positively moved along the path so long'as there aresufiicient racks remaining to fill'atleast one run and assure positive pushingof the racks forward so as to advance a rack to the turntable. Thus while there may be a delay in the movement of the racks along the parallel runs upon removal of some of the racks from the assembly, the operation need'not be stopped merely because one or more racks have been removed. However, ordinarily, it-is desirable to have the equipment filled with dish carrying racks so as to maintain a continuous supply and movement of the dirty dishes to the washing apparatus-and a continuous supply of clean dishes to the station adjacent the counter '18. Furthermore, upon conclusion of a washing operation, the racks 2 may be pushed by hand ontothe turntable 8 from the front'run 4 and will then continue to advance through the equipment to the counter 18.

The means forming the'various sections or runs of the path along which the dish racks are moved may be made in any suitable form. Ordinarily guards extend along thesides of the sections or runs and about the outer side of the turntable to hold the racks in aligned relation.

7 The sections ofthe path are supported on a framework 'at a convenient height from the floor for easyoperation and each section or run of the path may, if desired-have rollers therein to support the racks and'facilitate their movement. On the other hand, it is in fact only necessary to provide side rails formed of angle iron along which the dish racks may be pushed or to provide any other suitable surface over which the dish racks may be pushed'from one turntable or transfer device to the other. It is not necessary to provide the dishwasher with means for moving the dish racks therethrough since the racks will be advanced one after the other through the dishwasher by the turntable. Thus the turntables may serve as the only source of power-for moving the racks along the continuous path of the assembly. Nevertheless, if

.the dishwasher is alreadyequipped with conveying means gagement with the racks, it will be apparent that other suitable means may be employed for this purpose. It will also be apparent that the construction and arrangement of the turntables and the manner in which the front and rear runs of the assembly are mounted can be varied considerably in the practice of the present invention. Furthermore, if for any "reason" it should be desirable to change the form of the path along which the dishes are moved to a 'triangularfirectangular'or other shape, additional turntables or transfer means may be employed for positively moving the racks from one run to another throughout the path of movement. The turntables and related elements of the construction preferably are identical in design and arrangement wherebyonly a single form of transfer device need be provided in constructing the assembly.

These and other changes and modifications may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of .the elements of the assembly. and, therefore, it should be understood that the particular embodiment of the invention shown in thedrawings and described above is intended to be illustrative only and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Weiclaimg 7 V '1." In a combination'with a'dish-washer, 'means'forming 'apath for dish'racks which extends to and from'said dishwasher, means forming a return path for dish racks extending parallel to .the first .path, means for pushing said dish racks along said paths including turntables positioned adjacent the opposite ends of said paths in position to receive dish racks from one of said paths and deliver them to the other of said paths, meansfor rotating said turntable, and rack engaging means jmovable with said turntable and into engagement with racks moving onto said turntable from one of said paths to positively move'the racks with the turntable, said rack engaging means being movable to disengage said racks as they reach'the other of said paths.

.2. In combination with a dishwasher, meansforming acontinuous path along which dish racks may be moved to and from said dishwasher, said path embodying a plurality of sections, transfer means'located between the ends ofsaidse'ctionsin position to receive dish racks from one section of said path and to transfersaid-dish racks to the other section of the path, andmeans for actuating said transfer means serving as the sole source of power employed for moving the dish racks along said path.,

3. In combination with a dishwasher, means forming a continuous path along which dish racks'may be moved to and from said dishwasher, said path embodying a pinrality of sections, transfer means located between the ends of said sections in position to receive dish racks from one section of said path and to transfer said dish racks to theother section of the path, said transfer means serving as the sole means for pushing said dish racks along said the dish racks alongsaid path and onto the turntable.

for moving the dish racks, such conveying means will not one typical and preferred form of intermittentlyoperating-.rackengagingmeans movable into and out of en- 4. In combination with a dishwasher, means forming a continuous path along which dish racks may be moved to and from said dishwasher, said path embodyinga plurality of sections, transfer meanslocated between. the ends of said sections in position to receive dishracks;from one section of said path and to transfer said dish racksto the other section of the path, said transfer deviceincluding a turntable, dish rack engaging means carried .by the turntable and serving as the sole means for moving fdish racks along said paths, and means for moving said engaging means to engage a dish raclcmoved to the turntable, said engaging means being movable .out of engagement adish'rackon theturntable uponreaching the. other section .of;said path.

..5.. Incombination with a dishwasher,..means; forming a continuous path along which dish racksmay be .moved to and from said dishwasher, said path having two sections arranged in parallel relation, means for pushing said dish racks along said paths including turntables located adjacent the ends of said sections in position to receive dish racks from one of said sections and deliver the dish racks to the other of said sections, said turntables having openings therein, dish rack engaging pins carried by the turntables and movable through said openings into and out of engagement with dish racks on the turntable, means for rotating the turntable, and means located beneath the turntable for moving said pins upward through said openings.

6. In combination with a dishwasher, means forming a continuous path along which dish racks may be moved to and from said dishwasher, said path having two sections arranged in parallel relation, means for pushing said dish racks along said paths including turntables located adjacent the ends of said sections in position to receive dish racks from one of said sections and deliver the dish racks to the other of said sections, said turntables having openings therein, dish rack engaging pins carried by the turntables and movable through said openings into and out of engagement with dish racks on the turntable, means for rotating the turntable, and a track located beneath said turntable and concentric therewith, the ends of the track terminating adjacent the ends of the sections of said path, said dish rack engaging pins having means connected thereto and engageable with said track to raise the pins and hold them in dish rack engaging position as they move from one end of the track to the other.

7. In combination with a dishwasher, means forming a continuous path along which dish racks may be moved to and from said dishwasher, said path having two sections arranged in parallel relation, turntables located adjacent the ends of said sections in position to receive dish racks from one of said sections and deliver the dish racks to the other of said sections, said turntables having openings therein, dish rack engaging pins carried by the turntables and movable through said openings into and out of engagement with dish racks on the turntable, means for rotating the turntable, and a track located beneath said turntable and concentric therewith, the ends of the track terminating adjacent the ends of the sections of said path, said disk rack engaging pins having means connected thereto and engageable with said track to raise the pins and hold them in dish rack engaging position as they move from one end of the track to the other, the turntable and dish rack engaging pins serving as the sole source of power employed to move the dish racks along said path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,792,533 Francis Feb. 17, 1931 2,580,054 Vincent Dec. 25, 1951 2,630,202 Saxe Mar. 3, 1953 

